Shipping crate



2 Sheets-Sheet l km a W D. J. McCLARY SHIPPING CRATE Filed April 1'7,1955 6- D. J. M cLA Y 2,050,108

SHIPPING CRATE Filed April 17, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 will besubstantially prolonged.

Patented Aug. 4, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OF F l @E SHIPPING CRATEApplication April 17, 1935, ScriaLNo. 16,853

7 Claims.

This invention relates to shipping crates and particularly to cratesforshipping and handling milk-bottles or other similar containers.

It is the general object of my invention-to-improve the construction ofsuch shippingcrates in such manner that the useful life of the crate Ialso effect economy in manufacture and simplify :the procedure inassembling the crates.

An important feature of my invention relates to the provision of aunitary-bottle-spacing and supporting structure which maybe separatelyassembled and which may be removed as a unit from a worn or broken crateand maybe placed in a new casing when desired.

I also construct and support this unitary structure in such a way-thatshocks to the supported bottles in handling is reduced.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhich will behereinafter described and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

Two forms of the invention are shown in the drawings, in which Fig. l isa plan view of one form of myimproved shipping crate;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a partial end View;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial sectionalelevation, taken along the line4-4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional plan "view, taken along the lineE-B in Fig.2;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the bottle-spacing and supporting structure,separated from'the casing;

7 is a partial front elevation thereof;

Fig. 8 is a partial end View thereof;

Fig. 9 is a partial plan view of a modified spacing and supportingstructure, and

Fig. 10 is a partial front view, looking in the directionof the arrow H!in Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a shipping crate particularlydesigned for holding mill: bottles and comprising anouter casing,commonly of wood, and an inner bottle-spacing andsupporting structurewhich constitutes a separable unit.

The outer casing comprises a front portion 23, a back portion 2i and endportions 22, all firmly secured together, preferably by cornerreenforcement members 23 and 24 (Fig. 5) and rivets 26. The innerreenforcement members 24 may have upwardly projecting end portions 21which facilitate nesting of superposed crates.

The parts thus far described are of the usual commercial constructionand in themselves form placement. .bottom rods .31; and are covered byU-shaped .no part of rny :present invention, which relates particularlyto the bottle-spacing and supporting structure shownseparatelyin Figs.6, '7. and 8,

and in another form in Figs. 9 and 10.

The structure shown in .Figs. 6, .7 and 8 com- 5 iprisesaplurality oflongitudinally extendingbottom rods 30 (Fig. 6) which extend throughbosses 31 in end plates 32 and which are headed over :within the bossesto prevent endwise'dis- Cross rods 33 ('Fig. 4) overlie the 10 shields34 which are perforated at each side to :permit'passage therethrough ofthe bottom rods 38. The rods 33 also extend through the lower ends-of:upright members 35 and are'preferably headed over outside of thesemembers. The shields 34 abut :the inner faces of the members 35 andaccurately space them apart.

The specificconstruction of the bottom or supporting structure is tosome extent illustrative, :the .main requirement being that the bottommembers beattached to and form a part of the unitary interior structure.

Longitudinal upper spacing members All and longitudinallowerspacingmembers M are pro- ;vided, together with transverse upperspacing members 42 and transverse lower spacing mem- .bers 43. Thesespacing members may be formed of 'flatstrips of sheet metal rivetedtogether at :their crossing points, as indicated at 44, and

twisted between the crossing points to provide vertically disposedbottle-engaging portions.

The end portions 45 of the upper longitudinal spacing members ill areextended downward as indicated in Fig. '7 and at their extreme lowerends are secured-to the end plates 32 by rivets 46. The end portions 41of the lower longitudinal spacing members 4| areextended upward, as alsoindicated in Fig. 7, and the members 45 and 41 are .provided withaligned openings to receive rivets '48 by which the spacing andsupporting structure maybe secured to "the end portions 22 of theshipping crate.

A bend or loop 45 (Fig. 4) may be provided in each end or suspensionportion 45 of the longitudinal spacing members 40, so that the bottomstructure may yield slightly if a loaded crate is dropped and the shockto the bottles may be correspondingly reduced. This manner of suspensionalso permits the rods to bend slightly and the end plates to springinward away from the ends of the crate to relieve shock and thus avoidpermanent displacement of the rods.

The end portions of the upper transverse spacing members 42 are extendeddownward to provide the upright members 35 previously described and towhich the cross rods 33 are secured. The end portions 50 of the lowertransverse spacing members 43 are extended upward and the parts 35 and59 are provided with aligned openings to receive rivets Si by which thespacing and supporting structure is secured to the front and backportions 20 and 2! of the shipping crate.

At certain of the crossings of the longitudinal and transverse members,spacing posts 54 (Fig. '7) are provided, by which the upper and lowermembers are held in spaced assembled relation.

From the above description it will be seen that the bottle-spacing andsupporting structure as a unit is secured to the outer casing of thecrate by the rivets 48 and 5| only, and that the entire inner structuremay be removed by driving out these rivets 48 and 5|. It will also benoted that the rivets 48 and 5| are widely spaced from the bottom edgeof the crate and are so located that splitting of the wooden casingmembers is effectually avoided.

Furthermore, the assembling of the crates is much simplified, as theentire bottle-spacing and supporting structure can be assembled andsecured together at a riveting machine or on the bench, and the onlywork required after the supporting structure is placed in the casing isthe insertion and heading of the rivets 48 and 5!, which are relativelyfew in number.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown a modified bottle-spacing and supportingstructure in which the bottom rods 69, end plates 6i, cross rods 62 andshields 63 are all formed and assembled as previously described, but inwhich longitudinal spacing rods 65 and transverse spacing rods 66 aresubstituted for the fiat strip spacing members shown in Figs. 1 to 8.

The longitudinal spacing rods 65 are headed into vertically disposedmembers 67, to the lower ends of which the end plates 6! are secured byrivets 68. Similarly the ends of the transverse spacing rods 66 aresecured in upright members 10, to the lower ends of which the bottomcross rods 62 are secured.

Rivets l2 secure the upright members 67 to the ends of the crate andrivets i3 secure the upright members 70 to the front and back portionsof the crate, all as previously described.

Having described two forms of my invention, it will be seen that I haveprovided a shipping crate in which the metal parts forming the spacingand supporting structure may be assembled and handled as a unit, and inwhich said metal parts may be easily and conveniently secured as a unitin the outer casing or may be removed therefrom.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:-

1. A shipping crate comprising an outer casing, an article-spacing andsupporting structure forming a complete and separate unit and slidableas a unit into said casing, and a single series of fastening deviceswidely spaced from the bottom edge of the casing and forming the solesecuring and supporting means for said unitary structure.

2. A shipping crate comprising an outer casing, an article-spacing andsupporting structure, said structure being secured as a unit in saidcasing and comprising longitudinal bottom rods, end plates for saidbottom rods, cross rods, upper and lower longitudinal and transversespacing members and upright end members to which said cross rods,spacing members and end plates are secured, and means to secure saidupright end members to said outer casing.

3. A shipping crate comprising an outer casing, an article-spacing andsupporting structure, said structure being secured as a unit in saidcasing and comprising longitudinal bottom rods, end plates for saidbottom rods, cross rods, upper and lower longitudinal and transversespacing members and upright end members to which said cross rods,spacing members and end plates are secured, and means to secure saidupright end members to said outer casing at points only which are remotefrom the lower edge of said crate, said end members and securing meanssupporting the entire load carried by said inner structure.

4. A shipping crate comprising an outer casing, an article-spacing andsupporting structure, said structure being secured as a unit in saidcasing and comprising longitudinal bottom rods, end plates for saidbottom rods, cross rods, upper and lower longitudinal and transversespacing members and upright end members to which said cross rods,spacing members and end plates are secured, and means to secure saidupright end members to said outer casing each by a single fasteningdevice and at a point remote from the lower edge of said crate.

5. A shipping crate comprising an outer casing, an article-spacingstructure having upper and lower longitudinal and transverse spacingmembers and upright end members to which said upper and lower spacingmembers are attached, means to secure said spacing members in assembledrelation as a unit, and means to support and secure said upright endmembers to said outer casing at spaced points remote from the bottomedge of said crate, said securing means forming the entire support forsaid spacing structure in said casing and said spacing structure beinginsertable and removable as an assembled unit from said casing when saidsecuring means is removed.

6. A shipping crate comprising an outer casing and article-spacing andarticle-supporting elements forming a unitary structure, said structurehaving suspension members secured to said outer casing at points remotefrom the bottom edge of said crate, and said members havinglongitudinally yieldable parts providing a slightly resilient suspensionfor said supporting elements.

7. A shipping crate comprising an outer casing, a unitaryarticle-supporting structure slidable as a complete assembled unit intosaid casing, means to space the supported articles in said structure,and means to secure and support said structure as a unit in said casingat points only which are relatively remote from the bottom edge of saidcrate.

DAVID J. MCCLARY.

